OT - research help
Jo B
I know theres some academic bods here and people who have done such things
in their misspent youth - academic research.
I have to do a research critique for my course and I've no idea what I'm
doing. I've managed to avoid things like stats and numbers all through my
life and now they've been thrown at me and I'm supposed to be able to say
whether the research is good or bad. Maybe I'm just scared of the numbers
and this isn't actually as hard as it looks so any assistance or reassurance
would be very nice thank you.
At this rate theres no way I'm gonna be taking this beyond degree level :-(
Cheers m'dears
Jo B
Jani
"Jo B" <spirit_...@SPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5s1Oj.18018$B83....@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> Hey guys and gals,
>
> I know theres some academic bods here and people who have done such things
> in their misspent youth - academic research.
>
> I have to do a research critique for my course and I've no idea what I'm
> doing. I've managed to avoid things like stats and numbers all through my
> life and now they've been thrown at me and I'm supposed to be able to say
> whether the research is good or bad. Maybe I'm just scared of the numbers
> and this isn't actually as hard as it looks so any assistance or
> reassurance
> would be very nice thank you.
If it's quantititittive stuff, I'll back away politely. Stats scares me. If
it's just picking holes in qual, that's different.
Have a look at *what* they want you to critique. Most studies have some sort
of conclusion, written in real words *grin* which summarises all the fancy
tables up above. You can get away with a lot by cutting to the chase,
depends whether they're training you to do stuff, or learn *how* to do
stuff.
Jani
Jo B
"Jani" <ja...@jani.adsl24.co.uk> wrote in message
news:fub45r$25jg$1...@energise.enta.net...
>
> "Jo B" <spirit_...@SPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:5s1Oj.18018$B83....@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> > Hey guys and gals,
> >
> > I know theres some academic bods here and people who have done such
things
> > in their misspent youth - academic research.
> >
> > I have to do a research critique for my course and I've no idea what I'm
> > doing. I've managed to avoid things like stats and numbers all through
my
> > life and now they've been thrown at me and I'm supposed to be able to
say
> > whether the research is good or bad. Maybe I'm just scared of the
numbers
> > and this isn't actually as hard as it looks so any assistance or
> > reassurance
> > would be very nice thank you.
>
> If it's quantititittive stuff, I'll back away politely. Stats scares me.
If
> it's just picking holes in qual, that's different.
Heh, I'll put my hand up to running away too.
>
> Have a look at *what* they want you to critique. Most studies have some
sort
> of conclusion, written in real words *grin* which summarises all the fancy
> tables up above. You can get away with a lot by cutting to the chase,
> depends whether they're training you to do stuff, or learn *how* to do
> stuff.
The class got divided into groups and I'm in the only group that got a
quantitative research paper to crit *rolls eyes*. We have had like an hours
tuition from our course leader about research and critique - I think this is
cos she is new to research and is nervous of it herself.
Fortunately my partner did Stats at AS level so at least I now know that SD
is short for standard deviation although the finer points of the definition
still elude me.
The assessment criteria states:
"Students are required to submit a focused research critique. The article
selected for review will be provided by the module tutor to correspond with
the oral presentation topic.
"The major strengths and weaknesses of the studies' chosen methodology, the
sample used, validity, reliability and ethical issues should be
investigated.
"Critically analyse the nature, purpose and limitations of the research
paper and its use in promoting evidence based practice and effectiveness.
Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of all stages of the research process.
Identify and explore ethical issues in research.
Critically analyse a published research report and assess the relevance to
evidence based practice
Construct a written report in an acceptable academic format that employs a
balanced and logical argument."
I really am all at sea with this bloody thing. I have no faith in my tutor
anymore and there are no other members of the teaching staff that have done
any research stuff at all.
I could well be just panicking but at least I can get it off my chest before
I have a go at this assignment. I'll probably pass anyway but I'm a crazy
perfectionist type and 'just a pass' is never good enough for me.
Cheers for the response tho Jani
Jo
Yowie
Ok, I do research for a living, so what you are being asked to do is do what
my boss does to me when I submit a paper.
So, here's the trick:
What is the aim of the experiement that was performed?
Does the conclusion of hte paper answer that aim?
Does the data fit with the conclusion?
What woudl hte null hypothesis be? (ie, if there was no effect?)
Is the methodology reasonable?
Was a control used - if so, was it a suitable control?
Are there any doubts related to the conclusion reached? if so what are they
and why?
How *reliable* is the data presented. If the data has a wide standard
deviation, would the conclusion still be valid if you shifted all the data
to one end or the other of that standard deviation? What woudl the sources
of errors be? How could they be minimised? is the author aware of the
errors?
As to ethics, well, thats a different kettle of fish, but was ethics
metnioned when the methodology was written up? Why did hte author choose
that methodology rather than another?
In other words, do you believe the conclusion of the paper? If you are yet
to be convinced, what further data would you require to be convinced and/or
why aren't you ocnvinced?
Thats what critical analysis is all about - getting into the author's head
and work out why said experiement was done and what biases were present (if
any) in the conclusion.
Hope that helps a bit,
Yowie
Jo B
Been unable to reply before now as puter went wobbly then we went away on
hols.
Catch up time for emails
Jo
flower of romance
"Jo B" <spirit_...@SPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5s1Oj.18018$B83....@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
Can you use a computer to assist or do you have to show your workings?
Jo B...
"flower of romance" <whoc...@me.net> wrote in message
news:zZNVj.10940$66....@newsfe20.ams2...
I can use the computer - but really its not so much about the stats as it is
that I do a critique of the author's research methods, process and findings.
I'm still working at it and looking for the articles in his bibliography.
Unfortunately I can't access the British Journal of Psychiatry through my
Uni Athens account for some reason and three of the references are from
there. None of the books seem to be in the Uni library either. I think my
tutor is a bit of a dink to have given us this paper without checking that
we can access the references.
Ah well, I've found stuff to back up my own bias and thereby poo upon the
author's bias :-P
Just have to organise it all into some kind of coherent critique now and
make it sound all academicky like. LOL and people at college think I know
what I'm talking about. I am a grade A bullsh***er.
Jo
>
flower of romance
"Jo B..." <spirit_craft(antispam)@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Jz4Wj.73371$%n2.1...@newsfe12.ams2...
regugitating the same assignment year in year, out to students. The bloke
who wrote the assignment was probably wearing flares at the time.
>
> Ah well, I've found stuff to back up my own bias and thereby poo upon the
> author's bias :-P
Good for you. Hopefully you will get points for initiative. Though they may
dock you for individuality.;)
> Just have to organise it all into some kind of coherent critique now and
> make it sound all academicky like. LOL and people at college think I know
> what I'm talking about. I am a grade A bullsh***er.
LOL. I think the secret is to make one word into three, three into a
sentence, a sentennce into a paragraph etc. :)